Published in the Asheville Citizen-Times, May 5, 2020
Aspiring hairstylists trimmed mannequin heads at home. Young bakers, whose kitchens lacked professional-grade supplies, found ways to cook their elaborate, sugary final projects from a distance. Law enforcement trainees continued lessons much as they had before the novel coronavirus pandemic, in-person.
It’s difficult, these students explained, to practice properly handcuffing someone from 6 feet away.
While some college courses — like history lectures or writing seminars — may adapt more naturally to virtual learning, many of the technical courses at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College are inherently hands-on.
In cosmetology, culinary arts, public safety and machinery, students face industry standards and government regulations that demand students complete certain physical tasks before beginning their careers.
With many A-B Tech students relying on their training to secure employment and much-needed paychecks, school leaders said it was vital to facilitate hands-on learning during a time of distance learning.
“The vast majority of our students work,” said Joseph Barwick, interim president of A-B Tech. “You knock their employment out from under them, and a lot of them don't have a fallback plan. I don't want to minimize this or trivialize it, but they don't necessarily have parents who are paying for their education.”
A-B Tech is the largest college or university in Western North Carolina, enrolling more than 23,000 students a year at its five campuses in Buncombe and Madison counties. Around half of its programs are academic transfer, designed for students who move on to four-year higher education institutions. The other programs provide career and technical education, intended for students who seek jobs upon finishing their degree. Classes ended on May 5.
“It was incumbent upon us as a community college to make sure those students progressed toward their goals as efficiently, as effectively and as quickly as possible,” Barwick said. “They need to get in the workforce.”
More: Retiring A-B Tech president King talks changed Buncombe, undocumented students, and stigma
Remote hairstylists and bakers
After A-B Tech ended most in-person instruction in late March, 73 students in the school’s cosmetology department returned to campus to pick up supplies.
Along with tool kits, cosmetology students picked up mannequin heads with full heads of hair. Student manicurists picked up plastic hands and their own nail-styling kits.
Due to COVID-19, the North Carolina Board of Cosmetic Art Examiners, the accreditation body for the cosmetics industry, relaxed its requirements and let students perform certain style techniques virtually. A-B Tech students showcased their abilities to color, sculpture and curl hair over Zoom.
Sarah Austin, a cosmetology student who will graduate in June, said instructors were vigilant during online lessons, but that the remote experience lacked the real-life styling experience.
"It's such a tactical experience," Austin said of cutting hair. "Mannequin heads just aren't human beings. Their scalps don't move when you touch them."
Despite barriers, school leaders said this virtual instructional layout may impact how future courses are taught.
“I think it has given us the opportunity to step outside of our comfort zone and our box to see what we can provide for the students.” said Tambra Luppino, chair of A-B Tech’s Spa Therapies and Operations department. “When a student is unable to come to school, I think this can definitely open some doors.”
In Baking and Pastry Arts, second-year students had to produce a bakery shop’s worth of intricate items: three sugar centerpieces, a three-tiered cake, breads, candies, chocolates, cakes and more. This list of treats comprised students’ capstone projects, a graduation requirement.
Yet separated from the A-B Tech kitchens, students lacked the advanced equipment needed to form these desserts.
“There was not really a plausible way of them doing this project at home and expecting them to buy the supplies,” said Charles DeVries, who taught a confections class this spring semester.
Instead, DeVries and his students improvised. DeVries had access to all the equipment, and students sent him detailed sugar sculpture recipes for their teacher to follow. Over Zoom, students watched DeVries adhere to their directions.
Like Luppino in cosmetology, DeVries saw benefits from the sudden shift to virtual learning.
“As much as we would have liked to finish the semester out with the planned curriculum, it was interesting that the thought process went from ‘There is no way that we can put these types of classes online’ to ‘Well, we can do these things and here are a couple other ideas we can try.’”
Still, not all students were able to complete their requirements during this atypical semester.
A-B Tech officials said welding students will return to campus as soon as safely possible to complete their hands-on requirements. Joseph said the school readjusted its summer machinery and welding courses in order to front-load informational lessons for the first few weeks. That way, students could fulfill their physical requirements should social distancing restrictions ease by midsummer.
In-person continues for some students
Students in A-B Tech’s Emergency Services Division couldn’t wait until summer to complete their coursework. They were training to be public safety officers and emergency service technicians, positions that could land them on the front lines of coronavirus care.
“The state has not allowed us to do anything online for most programs” said Clinton Gorman, dean of the Emergency Services Division at A-B Tech.
After suspending instruction in mid-March for three weeks, emergency service and public safety classes restarted at the Woodfin campus. Students and staff wore masks, had their temperatures checked upon arrival and practiced social distancing whenever possible.
Yet, some lessons, like CPR training or handcuffing instructions, demanded close contact.
Melissa Borchardt, leader of the basic law enforcement training cohort at A-B Tech, said most of her classmates didn’t hesitate about getting within 6 feet, and even touching, during lessons.
"We were pretty stoic," Borchardt said. “We knew we will face many challenges in our careers as law enforcement officers.”
On April 29, at the Woodfin campus, second-year paramedic students experienced a process familiar to most graduating students: a ceremony.
Instead of hundreds of friends and family who students said normally attend graduation, this ceremony saw no crowds.
A line of nine students received a pin from an instructor and a handshake from Anthony Green, the emergency medical science chair, who applied hand sanitizer after each shake.
Outside the ceremony, first-year paramedic students held congratulatory signs and applauded their graduating classmates.
“Even though it was quite subdued, it was still very special,” Gorman said. “seeing how the students and our faculty came together and pressed on through all types of challenges.”